


What Comes After

by theHunter_and_theNinja



Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Desus - Freeform, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, PTSD, Post-All Out War Arc (Walking Dead), all out war
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-18
Updated: 2018-05-06
Packaged: 2019-04-24 12:44:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14355786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theHunter_and_theNinja/pseuds/theHunter_and_theNinja
Summary: It’s been almost a month since the end of the war with the saviors and things are finally starting to fall back into place for the survivors. Daryl chooses to stay at Hilltop with Maggie and Jesus while other members of his family leave resulting in his family being more spread out than they have been in a long time. In the aftermath of the war, Jesus and Daryl grow closer as Paul helps Daryl heal from what Negan did to him.





	1. Coming Home

**Author's Note:**

> First fic I've ever written, hope ya'll enjoy it!

It’s been almost a month since the end of the war with the saviors and things are finally starting to fall back into place for the survivors. Rick, Michonne, and most everyone originally from Alexandria - with the notable exceptions of Carol, Tara, and Rosita - have moved back to start the process of rebuilding once the walls were repaired from the damage the saviors had inflicted upon it during the war. The new houses sure as hell won’t be as nice as the ones the saviors blew up, but if anyone can figure out how to get running water into the new homes, it’s Eugene. That trick he pulled on the saviors with the backfiring ammo is literally the only thing that kept Daryl from aiming his crossbow at his head and pulling the trigger. Daryl still doesn’t understand a damn word that comes out of his mouth, but if Rosita is willing to trust him again, then he figured Eugene’s okay. Even though he’s still the most annoying bastard alive. Daryl would say that Eugene’s the most talkative, but after living with Paul for the past few weeks, he now knows that the title should be awarded Paul instead.  
  
“Come back with us,” Rick had said when Daryl had told him of his decision to remain at Hilltop.  
  
“Can’t do it, Rick. You’re taking Negan there and if he and I are that close together, one of these days you’ll wake up to find the job you started on his throat finished. I still want him dead for what he did, so it’s best that I stay here.”  
  
“Who will you stay with? I don’t exactly see you settling in at Barrington.”  
  
“I’m going to stay with Paul in his trailer. It’s more my speed than Alexandria ever was with those fancy houses,” Daryl replied, he huffed out a small laugh, “I still remember sitting on the banister of one of our houses and Carol threatening to hose me off in my sleep. I just don’t feel at home there.”  
  
Rick nodded, but Daryl could tell he wasn’t all that happy with Daryl’s decision to stay. It would be the first time they’ve slept more than a room apart since the beginning. With the exception of Daryl’s time as Negan’s prisoner, but that separation was not by choice. This time Daryl was choosing to leave and that pained Rick, knowing that his brother didn’t feel safe enough to return to Alexandria as long as he knew Negan was there. Daryl never told him, or anyone for that matter, exactly what had transpired at the Sanctuary and Rick didn’t think he was going to. So, Rick bid him farewell and hugged him before going to join the rest of the Alexandrians gathered at the gate preparing to leave.  
  
Daryl watched with a cold stare as Negan was brought out of Barrington and loaded into one of the cars. Michonne saw him watching and made her way over to him.  
  
“I’m sure Rick has already asked,” she started, “but are you sure you won’t come home?”  
  
“Alexandria isn’t my home anymore,” Daryl replied, “and it won’t be ever again until that bastard is no longer imprisoned there.”  
  
Just like Rick had done earlier, Michonne nodded in resignation, knowing that she couldn’t change his mind. Daryl was still hurting from everything Negan had done to them and while she agreed with Rick’s decision to spare Negan, she could also see where Daryl and Maggie were coming from. But this needed to mark a new beginning for the communities, showing them that killing didn’t have to be the only option anymore, that there is a way out of this lifestyle created when the dead started walking.  
  
Carol rode back to the Kingdom alongside Ezekiel, Jerry, and that kid Henry. Her and Ezekiel’s relationship seems to be headed towards her becoming Queen Carol and leading the Kingdom with Ezekiel at her side. Yes, usually the king is referred to as being the main leader, but if Ezekiel thinks he’ll ever get away with something Carol doesn’t approve first, he’s dumber than Daryl thought. The whole king set up he has is ridiculous in Daryl’s opinion, but Carol seems to like and trust him enough, so he can’t be that bad. He’s just a theater but that happened to be a good enough leader to garner a huge group of loyal people willing to play along.  
  
As for Tara and Rosita, they moved to Oceanside after they finished helping the Alexandrians repair their walls. They chose not to move closer to the three other communities, but they have set up a more routine trading agreement. After eating fish almost everyday for more than a year, a lot of their residents were happy to trade some of their fish for other important staples including eggs, milk, and other various crops grown between the Hilltop and the Kingdom.  
  
Daryl’s choice to stay at Hilltop was influenced by many things. His desire to remain close to Maggie in order to help keep her safe after costing her Glenn and Negan being moved to Alexandria were the main reasons, but not all of them. Since the end of the war, Daryl had been growing steadily closer to Paul. His presence proving to have a somewhat calming effect on his mood more often than not. His ability to read Daryl’s moods had been steadily increasing since he helped him escape from the Sanctuary and now he better understands how to read and, if necessary, counter Daryl’s various moods. When he retreats into himself after a nightmare, Paul found it best to just talk about anything and everything. Nothing heavy, just simple, light conversation to put Daryl at ease and remind him he’s not there, he’s surrounded by people that love him, and - most importantly - that he’s safe.  
  
Daryl was extremely thankful for everything Paul did for him, especially after running into Negan on his way to see Carol off last just a few days ago. Negan was being escorted back from the medical trailer by two of the Hilltop residents, both of them with one hand gripping their side arm just in case he decided to try anything.  
  
“Well look who it is,” Negan said, his voice hoarse from the damage Rick had inflicted upon his neck, yet still managing to carry that particular air of asshole in his voice that made him sound like he thought he was better than everyone else despite the position he was now in. “Last I heard, you were taking off with Dwighty-boy in a truck. You kill him?”  
  
“Hey, keep it moving,” one of the guards, maybe John or was it Jackson, growled at Negan while grabbing his arm and shoving him forward. “Nobody wants to hear your bullshit anymore.”  
  
Daryl remained silent as they escorted Negan past him and into his room before closing the door and locking it. The other one turned to Daryl, “Sorry about that. I was kinda hoping Rick managed to sever his vocal chords before Siddiq patched him up, but apparently no such luck. He said it didn’t work that way.”  
  
Daryl turned and nodded, “Yeah, that would’ve been nice,” before continuing on his way to see Carol. He wanted to make sure that going back to the Kingdom was what she wanted to do and not what she felt she had to do. Part of him wished that she would stay here, at Hilltop, with him, but he understood why she wanted to go back.  
  
“I found something there, Daryl,” Carol explained, a strange look in her eye that Daryl couldn’t place, “something I haven’t been able to find since the prison. At Alexandria, I was pretending, acting out a part designed to blend in and make everyone believe I was fine when I wasn’t. I can be myself at the Kingdom while not having to worry so much about my past coming back to haunt me. There are too many bad memories waiting for me in Alexandria. The wolves, the memory of that little boy Sam, Tobin... it was also the last place I saw Glenn and Abraham alive. I can’t go back, not yet.”  
  
“I get it,” Daryl replied, “I’m not going back either. I’m going to stay here and help Maggie and Paul run Hilltop.”  
  
“Paul? Thought his friends called him Jesus?” Carol smirked and raised her eyebrows at Daryl, giving him that knowing look she loves to torture him with. It never fails to get him to spill whatever it is he was attempting to hide, although he should know by now that hiding anything from that woman is impossible.  
  
“It’s a dumb ass nickname,” he said feigning innocence which only caused Carol to raise her eyebrow further, if that was even possible. “Besides, watching him stub his toe on the counter and curse when he comes out of his room in the morning kinda ruins the whole image anyway.”  
  
“Hmm,” Carol hummed not convinced, but knowing that if the hunter really didn’t want to talk about it there was no way she was going to get him to open up before she had to leave for the Kingdom. Instead she shifted the conversation over to lighter topics not wanting their last bit of time together for the near future to be heavy with talk about matters that they didn’t want to talk about. Daryl smiled softly as he watched Carol ride out of Hilltop behind Jerry and Ezekiel, knowing that she had finally found a place where she felt she belonged, just like he did at Hilltop.

  


* * *

  


Right after the fight was over, it was damn near impossible to avoid catching glimpses of or hearing Negan due to him being confined to the makeshift hospital room that Rick had Siddiq make in one of the spare rooms in Barrington. Every time Daryl walked past his room he had to force himself not to barge in and finish the job that Rick started on his throat right then and there. But he had promised Maggie that he would reign in his need to revenge and wait for a better opportunity to take that bastard out, besides, Negan wasn’t his to kill.  
  
Sure, Negan has tortured, stripped, beaten, and forcibly subjugated Daryl during his time at the sanctuary, but Daryl - with a lot of help from Paul - was starting to come back, slowly but surely, from the edge Negan had pushed him to. Maggie, on the other hand, will never be able to get Glenn back no matter what she does, and that is what makes what Negan did to her far worse than anything that he did to him while in the Sanctuary. His hatred for Negan combined with his guilt over Glenn’s death makes it impossible for him to turn down Maggie’s request for help in plotting to take out Negan. It’s not that he doesn’t understand, sort of, why Rick and Michonne feel like they need to keep him alive, but no matter what Carl wanted for the future, Negan needed to die for what he did. They can still have that world Carl imagined, but Negan had no right to be apart of it, even if he was confined to a cell for the rest of his life.  
  
Negan doesn’t deserve to be kept safe from those seeking retribution for the pain he caused them, doesn’t deserve to get three full meals a day, doesn’t deserve a window through which the sun can through. Allowed to grow old and die a natural death while so many others risk their lives for supplies that Negan would then get to partake of. Daryl doesn’t, however, want to treat him like he was treated at the sanctuary. There is a line there that he refuses to cross. There is a big difference between drawn out humiliation and torture and a quick death at the end of knife or the barrel of a gun.  
  
At first, Daryl was confused by Paul’s presence at the meeting considering his stance of peace and wanting to spare the saviors instead of killing them. He quickly came to understand that Paul’s loyalty to Maggie runs much deeper than his desire to prevent her from killing Negan. He sees the difference between killing all of the saviors, some of which are probably innocent in all of this and trapped just as much as Daryl was when he was Negan’s prisoner, and executing the perpetrator of the horrific acts that cause Daryl to be unable to sleep and Maggie unable to find closer. Negan killed her husband and tortured Daryl, so Paul can understand their need for revenge against him specifically.  
  
“Not all of them, just Negan has to die,” Paul said once he and Daryl were back in their trailer sitting next to each other on the couch, “All of the saviors that live here are innocent in the murder of Glenn and probably had nothing to do with what was done to you, but Negan isn’t. I can relate to what she’s going through because I went through the same thing after watching another group murder my boyfriend from before, Alex, right in front of me and I couldn’t stop it.”  
“I’m sorry,” Daryl replied, “what happened?” Daryl froze realizing how personal that question was. “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to,” he added quickly.  
  
“Nah, I’m okay,” Paul assured him while moving his hands to pick at the fraying pattern of the couch beside his leg. “It was just me and him. We were on our way to D.C. because we figured that would be the safest place, just like your group did, but before we even got out of Virginia we were ambushed by a much larger group. I know I’m fast, but I’m not fast enough to take out 10 men all pointing assault rifles at us.”  
  
Paul shifted his weight slightly and nervously rubbed his hands together. He’d never told anyone else about what happened to Alex, not even Maggie. He usually just gave the vaguest answer he could of “he was murdered by bad people” and left it at that. So his willingness to discuss this with Daryl surprised him, but he could hardly stop it now words spilling out of his lips now that the dam holding that horrible night inside was open.  
  
“They put us on our knees and forced us to hand over all of our supplies and weapons, luckily enough for me the woman frisking me was more interested in coping a feel than actually searching me for weapons so she missed the blade I had hidden in my sock. I could feel Alex shaking beside me in fear as their leader stepped forward from the crowd. He was big, probably even bigger than Abraham was and I knew immediately that there was no getting out of this without a fight. I’d be able to handle myself when push came to shove, but Alex was a nurse back in the old world and barely knew how to use a kitchen knife to chop vegetables before the world went to shit. Need him to find a vein and insert an IV, fine, but handle a knife? There was a reason he didn’t want to be a surgeon.”  
  
Paul paused to calm his shaking voice and prepare himself for what came next and Daryl didn’t say a word thinking it would be best if he waited to comment until he was done.  
  
Clearing his throat, Paul started again his voice steadier than before, “The leader launched into some bullshit speech about how we could join his group as long as we agreed to submit to him and do what was asked of us without question, Negan reminded me a lot of him when he first came to Hilltop. I was ready to play along and wait until nightfall to slip away, but that plan got shot to shit when one of the others noticed Alex reaching for my ankle where the knife was hidden. I tried to signal to Alex to leave it, but his eyes were firmly fixed on the leader. They stepped forward and roughly shoved him away from me and pulled down my sock revealing the knife. The leader’s welcoming stance immediately disappeared and he turned back to the woman that had searched me.  
  
She started blubbering out an apology and begging for forgiveness when, faster than my eye could follow, the leader drew his sidearm and shot her in the head. It was so callous and cold, I barely processed what was happening before the leader had turned and trained his gun on Alex. I felt like I was going to throw up because I knew what was coming before it even happened. There was no preamble, no long winded about how he wished he didn’t have to kill him like Negan would’ve done, he just shot him. I felt Alex’s blood hit my face and it took everything in me not to jump up and snap that man’s neck right then and there. It would have only resulted in my own death.”  
  
Paul was definitely crying now, he could feel the tears track down his face and fall onto his lap. His tongue felt swollen and he was sure there was something in his throat. He just sat there quietly unable to continue at the moment until he felt Daryl place his hand on his shoulder. If it was anyone else, beside mayben Maggie, he would’ve brushed the hand off saying he was fine and disappear into his room, but instead he leaned into the touch and Daryl allowed him to shift closer and rest his head on Daryl’s shoulder. Daryl wrapped his arm around Paul’s side and waited patiently for Paul to regain his composure.  
  
“I’m so sorry,” Daryl whispered as he started rubbing his hand up and down Paul’s side. Carol had used the same technique to comfort him when he returned to the prison after putting down and burying his brother. He figured if it worked well enough for him back then, it should work with Paul now. He could feel his shirt getting wet where Paul’s tears were pooling on his shoulder, but he didn’t mind. The position felt natural and not at all as awkward as Daryl thought it would be to have Paul crying into his shoulder.  
  
Slowly, Paul recovered enough to where the silence was broken by only a few sniffles here and there. His voice much softer than before, Paul finished the story, “In my shock I let them tie me up and take me back to their camp. I watched as they threw Alex’s body onto a pile of the dead they had taken out and burned them all. He didn’t deserve that, he should’ve been buried in a grave not burned up with the dead like he didn’t matter, but at the time I couldn’t afford to dwell on my grief. It didn’t take me very long to slip the rope they had used to tie me up, you’re probably not surprised by that at all considering how quickly I slipped the rope you tied me up with when we first met.  
  
I kept my free hands a secret until after everyone, save for a few guards, had disappeared into their tents for the night. I stuck to the shadows as I made my way through the camp to the tent I had seen the leader disappear into and slipped inside. I didn’t have to worry about waking him up with the sound the zipper on his tent make when I opened it because I could hear him snoring from at least a yard away. I slit his throat and left him to turn, not bothering to zip his tent back up before making my way over to where the guards were posted. I killed them both and left them to turn too before sprinting over to the tent where they stored the weapons. I took back my knives and Alex’s handgun and stole one of their assault rifles before running off. The next group I came across, weeks later, were scavengers from Hilltop and they brought me back here, the rest is history.”  
  
Daryl continued to rub Paul side, offering his unwavering support just like Paul does when he wakes him up from his nightmares. They’d never gotten this close, usually Paul just laid a hand on his shoulder, made sure he was okay and asked him if he needed anything before returning to his room. Each time it happened, Paul had offered to stay, but Daryl has refused every time so far. Maybe next time it happened, he would invite Paul to stay figuring they both could use it considering how Paul had reacted to Daryl reaching out and inviting him into this strange hug type embrace they were still in. An embrace neither of them wanted to break away from anytime soon.

  


* * *

  


Wherever this relationship was headed, Daryl was ready to pursue it as long as it was what Paul wanted as well. Merle was no longer here to stop him and he felt like Paul might be the perfect person to fill that hole in his life that he’d learned to live with since he was a teenager and figured out that he liked guys and not girls. Paul pressed closer to Daryl, chasing that feeling of safety radiating from the hunter that he so rarely felt both before and after the turn. He hadn’t been with anyone since he lost Alex, but somehow telling Daryl had given him closure for that relationship and he was ready for a new one, hopefully with a particular grumpy hunter with a heart of gold. Paul wasn’t sure how far Daryl wanted to take their new relationship, but if he wanted something more, Paul was ready to give it to him.  
  
They stayed that way, talking about nothing particular and just taking comfort in each other's presence until they could see the sun beginning to set through the window behind the kitchen sink. Sighing, Paul went to stand up and go to his room, he had to get up early tomorrow and head to Oceanside for their first official goods trade. He stopped when Daryl reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling him back around to face him.  
  
“Could ya... I mean ya don’t have to, but... would you mind sleeping with me in my bed tonight? It’s just... uh,” Daryl cast his eyes down at the floor, gnawing on his lip, hoping he hadn’t just messed up the nice evening they’d had.  
Paul leaned forward and placed his hand on Daryl’s shoulder before ducking his head to get Daryl to look at him. Once their eyes met, Paul smiled, “I’d love to come stay with you, just let me get changed. These pants aren’t exactly comfortable to sleep in.”  
  
“Okay,” Daryl replied, a slight blush tinting his cheeks a light pink. Daryl ducked his head again in an attempt to hide it, but Paul had already seen it.  
  
After changing into a pair of baggy sweatpants and a T-shirt, Paul walked across to the other side of the trailer where Daryl’s room was. He knocked on the door before entering just to make sure the hunter had finished changing.  
  
“Come in,” he heard Daryl respond through the door.  
  
When Paul walked in he noticed Daryl was already in the bed and was waiting for Paul to get in before turning off the lamp beside his bed. Paul closed the door and crawled into the bed next to Daryl and laid down. After a brief moment of hesitation, Daryl scooter closer and wrapped one of his arms around the ninja’s waist and buried his nose in Paul’s neck. Paul chuckled and pressed back against Daryl so that he knew that Paul was okay with this position.  
  
Just as he was drifting off to sleep, Paul felt Daryl place a light kiss on his neck causing Paul to hum in approval.  
  
“Night Daryl,” he whispered. He felt Daryl tense behind him for a minute at being caught. Daryl had thought Paul was already asleep.  
  
“Night Paul,” Daryl whispered back against his ear causing Paul to shiver. With that, they both cuddled closer together and drifted off to sleep. For Daryl, it was the first real goodnight's sleep he's had since before the fall of the prison.


	2. Nightmare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve decided to continue writing for this one. I originally planned for it to be a one shot, but when I started writing another piece, I noticed how well the two fit together and decided to combine them. I have no idea how many chapters this will be, but I do have a general idea of where this is going now.

_Don’t stop, keep running, don’t stop, keep running_ was the mantra sounding over and over in his mind as he sprinted towards the door. The whistling of the savoirs chasing him crowding out all other noises. He couldn’t hear himself breathe in or out, no constant pounding as his feet hit the cement, just that endless whistling warning him of the impending danger. He grabbed the door knob and pulled open the door, slamming it shut behind him and locking it. Finally, the whistling stopped and he let himself breathe resting his hands on his knees as he bent over trying to catch breath.

It couldn’t have been more than a minute before his relief turned into dread as easy street started blasting from all sides of the dark room, reverberating though his mind making it impossible to think. He shoved his hands over his ears and screamed, but nothing could be heard over that annoying melody that seems to follow him no matter where he runs. A spotlight came on in front of him illuminating the room a bit more. Kneeling in the center of the circle of light was Paul, Negan stood above him, bat in hand. He was swinging it back and forth in front of Paul’s face and Daryl felt his blood run cold.

He felt like he was going to throw up as Negan finished the song, _and you are it_ , shoving Lucille in Paul’s face. Paul was looking up at him in defiance, eyes never wavering from Negan’s. Daryl saw Paul move his hand and watched as he moved his hand to sign “I love you” at Daryl before Negan swung his bat down onto Paul head.

He snapped his eyes shut and sank to his knees screaming, someone touched his head and he lashed out feeling his fist connecting with his assailants face. He opened his eyes to see Negan standing above him smiling, bat thrown back over his shoulder dripping fresh blood on the floor behind him. Out of the corner of his eye he could just make out Paul’s body, his brains spilled out on the ground just like Glenn’s. Negan reached out to him again, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him. He tried to lash out again, but this time Negan released one of his shoulders and caught his fist before it could make contact with his face again.

He could hear someone screaming his name, slowly overpowering the volume of the song and Negan’s loud rant about how it was Daryl’s fault Paul was dead. He shied away from the hands holding him, curling up into a ball as much as his body would allow him, desperate to escape, but knowing there was nowhere to run. He cried and screamed, lashing out at Negan with the desperation of a cornered animal.

“Daryl! Wake up! It’s just a dream, just a dream, you’re not there!” Paul was practically yelling at the hunter.

He’d tried to wake him calmly, but all that approach got him was a fist to the face. Daryl was obviously trapped in some kind of nightmare, most likely reliving his time at the sanctuary. He watched as Daryl curled in on himself, tears tracking down his cheeks, voice raw from yelling. It hurt Paul to see Daryl this way. Covering away from Paul’s touch, trying to run away. The Daryl he knew would fight tooth and nail against his opponent no matter how badly he was hurt. According to Sasha, when she, Daryl and Abraham had run into Negan’s biker gang, Daryl had been cut by one of them and brushed it off like it was nothing.

Finally, Daryl’s eyes snapped open, wide and unfocused like an animal caught in a trap, and sat bolt upright nearly smashing his forehead into Paul’s nose. Immediately Paul loosened his grip on the hunter, but didn’t remove them completely in case Daryl tried to hit him again, and lowered his voice in order to keep from appearing like a threat to the hunter.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Paul said in a soft voice, ducking his head trying to get Daryl to focus on him, “It’s me, Paul. You’re at Hilltop, you’re safe.”

He felt Daryl relax in his grip and close his eye for a minute before opening them again to focus on Paul. Slowly Paul removed his hands from the hunter and sat down on the edge of the bed, waiting for Daryl to completely get a handle on the situation. With the short struggle now over and the adrenaline was draining from his body, he could feel where Daryl had punched him. He sure hadn’t held back on that one. It reminded him of how his face felt after Daryl had punched him in the truck when they first met. That one he guessed he deserved considering he had tried to steal their truck. Paul refused to lift his hand to cradle his jaw, it was dark enough that if it had already started to bruise, Daryl shouldn’t notice it, but he didn’t want to make the hunter feel guilty by drawing attention to it.

Daryl could feel his hair, slicked with sweat, sticking to his forehead. His hands were still shaking as he uncurled his body from the fetal position he’d woken up in. His throat was kind of sore, he must have been yelling. He looked up at Paul who was sitting patiently on the edge of his bed. Realizing that he was in his bedroom - their bedroom, he reminded himself, they’d taken to sleeping in the same bed over the past month or so - in Paul’s ( _their?_ ) trailer at Hilltop, he managed to get his breathing under control and allowed his body to relax completely.

“Thanks for pulling me out,” Daryl said once he was able to find his voice.

“It’s no problem,” Paul answered, smiling slightly.

“I’m sorry,” Daryl whispered, shifting his eyes from Paul to where his hands were fiddling with the bedspread, “I should be able to sleep without you, it’s pathetic...”

Paul reached out and placed his hands on Daryl’s, effectively stopping their nervous movement and cutting him off mid sentence. Paul had been late returning from his visit to Oceanside to drop off supplies and Daryl had decided to try to sleep without him. It was the first night since they’d first started sharing a bed that Paul hadn’t been there when Daryl went to sleep. He hadn’t had a single nightmare during that time until tonight and he figured it had something to do with Paul’s absence. The scout was still dressed in his run clothes, minus the long trench coat and beanie, he’d obviously just gotten back. Paul must have heard him yelling when he came in and left them in the other room in his haste to get to Daryl as they usually hung on the hook on the door of their room.

“Hey, you shouldn’t feel ashamed over something you can’t control. What you went through with Negan was nothing short of traumatic judging by the vividness of your nightmares. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out you’re suffering from PTSD.”

Paul paused to let Daryl process what he’d said, sometimes it’s hard for people to admit they are struggling with mental issues such as PTSD or depression. Paul was certain Daryl suffered from PTSD, but figured due to his guilt about Glenn could also be struggling with depression. It was moments like this when Paul wished he really was Jesus so he could reach out and heal all of Daryl’s ailments instantly, he hated seeing the hunter in so much pain.

“It okay to need help sometimes, Daryl,” Paul reassured him, “You want to talk about it? No worries if you aren’t ready yet, but talking about it might help.”

Daryl shook his head, he just wanted to go back to sleep with Paul next to him, then he might be able to actually get some rest. Paul nodded and got up from the bed to change. After sharing the same room for a little over a month, they both had no qualms about changing in front of each other. Slipping on a pair of sweatpant, choosing to forgo a shirt at all due to how hot it was, he climbed into bed next to Daryl. He’d take a shower in the morning figuring that Daryl needed him more right now than he needed a shower. They hadn’t run into a single walker on their way to Oceanside, so there were no opportunities to get dirty anyway.

Paul shifted to wrap his arms around Daryl’s torso and rest his head on his chest, snuggling up to each other just like they normally do. The position didn’t matter as long as they were touching in some way. Daryl moved his arm to wrap around Paul’s back and rest on his stomach, effectively pulling him closer.

“Night Daryl,” Paul whispered, as he lifted his head to place a chaste kiss on Daryl’s cheak.

“Night Paul,” Daryl mumbled, already half asleep, moving his head slightly to return the kiss by pressing his lips against Paul’s forehead before laying his head back down on the pillow and promptly falling back to sleep.

Paul smiled as he gazed up at the sleeping hunter, they never went to sleep without saying goodnight to each other. It had also become a tradition to kiss each other goodnight ever since Daryl had kissed him on the neck the first night they’d roomed together. It was sweet, but Paul really wished he could work up the confidence to kiss him on the mouth. He’d been wanting to for a while now, but he figured doing it right after a nightmare was probably not the best time. Especially considering he didn’t know how Daryl would react to the kiss.

It was obvious that Daryl liked him, but other than the few times he’d caught Daryl subtly looking at him while he was getting dressed, causing Daryl to blush and turn away quickly, he had not given any indication that he wanted to be with the scout in a romantic way. From what Paul knew about his past, he assumed Daryl was probably scared to admit he likes men despite knowing no one in his family would look at him any differently because of it.

Paul sighed and cuddled closer to Daryl before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Daryl woke the next morning to an empty bed, after his dream last night, he started to panic until he heard someone drop a pan in the kitchen. Seriously, for a ninja, the guy was really clumsy first thing in the morning.

“Fuck!” Paul yelled after dropping one of the pans on his foot. Luckily, it wasn’t the pan he need to make breakfast, but it still sucked. He knew that if Daryl was awake and heard that he would tease him about it all morning. Daryl liked reminding him how clumsy he was in the morning despite being seen as a graceful ninja by the rest of the Hilltop residents.

After massaging his toe for minute, Paul picked up the pan and tossed it in the sink. He still hadn’t taken a shower, so he figured the pan should be washed before using it to cook. He placed the skillet he needed over the heat and placed some butter in the pan before cracking a few eggs into a bowl, adding a bit of milk, some salt and pepper, and whisking them up. A few weeks ago he’d found a cookbook that detailed how to make certain things, like butter and cheese, from scratch. It was in one of the cupboards of an old farmhouse a few towns over. It was well hidden behind a row a trees, Daryl had discovered it by accident tracking a deer he’d spotted during the last run he and Paul had gone on together.

Paul poured the eggs into the skillet before moving to drop some toast into the toaster, he realized that was the last run anyone from Hilltop had gone on. They were mostly self-sufficient anymore, making runs not worth the risk as much as they used to be. They really only went on runs anymore when they needed to find something specific like guns for the war with the saviors or medicine. The house where they’d found the cookbook also had a number of older books detailing which plants could treat different illnesses and infections. They already found the started growing a lot of the herbs, so hopefully they’d be able to eventually stop relying on outdated meds so much.

Scooping the eggs out onto two separate plates and grabbing the toast, he began to set the table. He wished he’d been able to find some coffee the last time they went out, even if it was just a can of that instant stuff that before the turn he would’ve turned his nose up at. But, no such luck, so he stuck to pouring them each a glass of the grape juice made by some of the women at the Kingdom. Each month it was a different kind of juice, depending on which fruits were in season. His favorite was the apple juice they made in the fall, but Daryl preferred the grape one.

He glanced up from buttering the toast when he heard Daryl come out of the bedroom, “Morning!” Paul said happily without turning around, “I made breakfast. It’s not much, but at least it’s not burnt.”

“Hey, I only burnt the omelets one time because Judith was trying to draw smiley faces on the table with the markers Carl had gotten her for her birthday. At least I don’t drop everything,” Daryl defended, “Seriously, how is it that you are so clumsy in the morning, yet can scale the side of Barrington with ease the rest of the day?”

“Dunno, guess I’m just special that way,” he said, shrugging his shoulders before turning around to set the plates on the table.

He heard Daryl gasp and he looked up in confusion, he hadn’t dropped anything to him knowledge, so what would’ve prompted Daryl to react like that. That’s when he remember the huge bruise on his face from where daryl had punched him last night when he tried to wake him up. Daryl’s face had paled and morphed into a look of guilt and regret as he took in the purple, blue color of Paul’s right cheek. He cast his eyes towards the ground, his good mood disappearing instantly, replaced by the guilt of hurting his friend.

“I’m so sorry, did I... did I do that?” he whispered, staring at the floor like it was the most interesting thing in the world right now.

Abandoning the breakfast on the table Paul made his way over to Daryl, “Hey, look at me,” he said softly, placing his fingers under Daryl’s chin forcing him to look at him. “I’m fine, honestly. It doesn’t even really hurt anymore.”

“I hurt you, Paul. Maybe we shouldn’t room together. I can move into that room Maggie offered me in Barrington...”

“No,” Paul cut him off, “You don’t need to run from this. It was an accident, you were probably lashing out at someone in your dream. I know that you’d never hurt me intentionally, at least, not anymore. I was acquainted with your powerful right hook when we first met, remember.”

Daryl smirked a bit remembering the incident, “You shouldn’t have tried to steal our truck.”

Paul could tell Daryl was attempting to fool him into believe he was fine, but Paul could see he was still thinking about it. There was a distant look in his eyes and that scared Paul, he didn’t want Daryl to pull away from him. Paul grabbed Daryl’s hand and held it tightly in his grip, “Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it? It might help you get past it.”

Daryl sighed, he knew Paul was right, but he wasn’t sure he’d be able to get through it without completely collapsing or falling into a flashback and hurting Paul again. The image of Paul’s dead body from his dream still fresh in his mind making Daryl want to throw up. He’d seen that scene so many times, at first it was Glenn over and over again. After escaping the sanctuary it had shifted to being a montage of his family members starting with Rick, then Carol, Carl, Michonne, Maggie, Rosita, Tara, Denise, even Beth and Merle had made appearances. The one that broke him the most, however, was when he was forced to watch Negan kill Judith.

Ever since she could talk, Carl had trained her to refer to him as Uncle Daryl instead of just Daryl, even Rick referred to him as Uncle Daryl anymore. It had all started when in the heat of battle with the governor, Carl had called out to him and tossed him the grenade he’d used to take out the tank.

“Uncle Daryl, catch!” Carl had yelled, not even registering at the time that he’d referred to Daryl in that way. Daryl didn’t realize it either until much later when he was happily eating pigs feet with Beth in that funeral home just before she was taken from him. He asked Carl about in the church after Terminus when everyone else was asleep.

“Don’t know where it came from, it just felt right,” he’d answered when Daryl asked him why he’d called him uncle.

“Thanks kid, I’m honored you see me that way. Never thought I’d get the chance to be one. Merle was never the kind of guy to stay with a woman for more than one night.”

Carl had wrapped his arms around Daryl and hugged him tight, it was the first time he’d smiled since losing Beth. God, he missed the kid so bad. It was before the war was over that he’d been forced to watch, in one of his nightmares thankfully, Judith and Carl die by Negan’s bat, one after the other. He’d woken up screaming and crying and wasn’t able to stop the tears rolling down his cheeks for hours afterwards. He’d refused to sleep after that until he had literally collapsed and passed out on Rick couch in Alexandria, unable to avoid it any longer. He was woken up by Michonne not long after that and he’d brushed off her concern and went back to his own house to rest where nobody would be bothered by his nightmares.

“Daryl?” Paul’s soft voice bringing him back to the present.

“Yeah, but let’s eat first. Don’t all your hard work to go to waste,” he mumbled, shifting his eyes back to the floor.

“Okay,” Paul whispered softly, shifting up onto his tippy toes to give Daryl a chaste kiss on his cheek before pulling Daryl over the the table.

“So, what did you do while I was away? Maggie walk talking to me about extending the walls and building a greenhouse...”

* * *

They had a nice breakfast and Daryl was grateful that Paul kept the conversation away from any heavy topics. Daryl was nervous about revealing what he went though at the Sanctuary. He hasn’t even told Rick about it yet, granted he and Rick we a bit at odds right now because of the whole _save Negan_ thing, but he’s still his brother.

After they were done, Paul stood up to put the dishes in the sink to clean later, but nearly dropped them the door suddenly burst open. Daryl was immediately on his feet as Kal leaned against the doorframe, panting a bit, he’d obviously sprinted the whole way here from where it was he came from.

“It’s Maggie,” he panted, “she’s in Barrington, something’s wrong, I sent John to find Siddiq.”

Paul and Daryl were both sprinting out the door before Kal could even catch his breath. Paul knew their conversion about Daryl’s PTSD would have to wait until they made sure Maggie was going to be okay because there was no way he was going to get Daryl to talk or even be able to give him the attention he deserved when he and Daryl knew one of his family members was in danger.

 


	3. Welcome to the Family

They both flat out ran from their trailer to Barrington worried sick over what could’ve happened to Maggie to have Kal in such as panicked state. Once inside, they saw Enid who was rocking a crying Gracie in the foyer.

“She’s upstairs,” Enid said not looking away form Gracie.

No sooner had she said it the two were hurrying up the stairs. Paul was the first one in through Maggie’s door, but Daryl was hot on his heels. Inside, Maggie was in the bed and her skin was paler than normal. Her hands were resting on her swollen belly, she still has about 5 months left in her pregnancy but over the past month she had begun showing a lot more.

“Hey,” she said, her voice sounded weaker than normal.

“Maggie,” Paul said sitting down at the foot of her bed and Daryl moved to stand next to him, “ what happened?”

“Don’t know, I had a really bad headache and got really dizzy. Kal and John had to carry my here,” her expression confused as she stared at Paul.

“Oh god,” Paul whispered, slightly relieved, reaching out to take one of Maggie’s hands, “The way Kal came bursting in I thought you had a miscarriage or something.”

“Yeah, but on another note, the hell happened to your face?”

Daryl moved his gaze from Maggie to the floor, his guilt about punching Paul bubbling back to the surface now that he knew Maggie’s situation wasn’t as serious, hopefully, as Kal had made it sound.

“It was an accident, really I’m...” Paul started to explain before Daryl cut him off.

“It was me.”

“You? I thought you two were getting along. What happened?”

“I was having a nightmare and when Paul tried to wake me up, I lashed out and punched him in the jaw.”

“Like I said, it was an accident,” Paul restated and Daryl could feel Paul’s eyes on him as he said it. Maggie sensed the tension there and decided not to push it, she knew Daryl well enough to know he still felt guilty about it even though he couldn’t control his action.

“Okay, I trust you two can handle whatever it is. My mind it so busy hoping whatever this is won’t harm the baby, I can’t take losing anything else. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost him.”

“Him? How do you know it’s not gonna be a her? Judith won’t stop talking about how much she wants a sister,” Daryl spoke up.

“I bet Michonne and Rick love that,” Paul laughed.

“I don’t know, it’s not exactly like they’re quiet when they’re together, it’s part of the reason why I moved out of their house and into my own after they started dating. If they are still going at it as much as they did when I lived there, it wouldn’t surprise me if she got pregnant whether they planned it or not,” Daryl said and shuddered at the memory of hearing his brother and Michonne having sex across the hall from him.

There were some things he didn’t want to know about his brother and the sounds he makes during sex are _definitely_ on that list.

“I guess we know why Carl moved to the basement,” Maggie laughed.

Their briefly improved moods fell when Maggie’s laughter turned into horrible coughing. That’s when Siddiq can rushing through the door. His hair was messy and had the imprint of the couch in the medical trailer on his face. He looked frazzled and had obviously just been woken up.

“I’m so sorry, I was up late last night looking over some of Dr. Carson’s journals and books on the more detailed side of pregnancy, in the ER we usually only had to deal with the baby coming out, nothing that happened before that point,” Siddiq apologized, “John had to wake me up, which is not something easily done.”

“You’re fine,” Maggie said.

Siddiq moves to stand next to Maggie’s head and places his hand on his forehead, “What happened exactly?”

“Got a headache then felt really dizzy all of a sudden. Luckily we were in my study just down the hall so it wasn’t too hard for Kal and John to get me here.”

“It feels like you’ve got a fever. I’m going to run through a list of symptoms, let me know if you have any of them,” Siddiq explained opening one of the notebooks he’d brought.

“Okay.”

“Stiff neck?”

“Nope.”

“Vomiting?”

“Not for many weeks.”

“Coughing?”

“Yes.”

“You already said you had a headache, uh, sore throat?”

“A bit.”

“Okay, based on those symptoms, it sounds to me like some like of infection. Nothing too serious at the moment, but I'm going to put you on some meds that will hopefully prevent it from getting worse, which could put the baby in danger,” Siddiq said before he started flipping through a few of the pages of the notebook he was holding and mumbling to himself about the various treatment options.

Paul leaned closer, concern written all over his face. Daryl could see how much he cared for her. It was the same level of concern he’d shown for Rick many times since they met. If you didn’t know anything about their separate backgrounds, you’d think they’d always known each other, probably even been siblings considering how similar they looked.

“Okay, first off, I want to be completely clear, there is no severe danger to the baby just yet. This infection is commonly found in food that’s been left to sit too long, so that would likely include anything from outside the walls. I suggest that you stay away from any of the food brought back from runs for the rest of your pregnancy.”

“I haven’t eaten anything from one of the runs,” Maggie said confused, “At least not to my knowledge.”

“Did you have a slice of that cake Enid make last week?” Daryl asked.

“Yeah, she was so excited for people to try it. Said it was the first cake she’d ever made.”

“Well, the frosting she used was made from the last of powdered sugar Paul and I brought back when we went on that last run. The cake itself had a few things from runs in it too.”

Maggie’s stomach dropped and she looked down at where her and Paul’s hands were still joined, “It never even occurred to me that the cake could have something in it, I figured she’d just used Carol’s shortcut methods. Didn’t even think to ask.”

Siddiq placed his hand on Maggie’s shoulder, “It’s fine, your symptoms are fairly mild so you and the baby should be fine. Just be extra careful and make sure what you’re eating has nothing from outside the walls in it. I’m going to go get you some medicine. I’ll be back in a bit. Let me know if any of those things I mentioned get worse or start. I’ll be back soon.”

She still hadn’t moved her eyes from her lap and even though his assurances seemed to calm Maggie down a bit, Daryl could tell she was still stressed about it. Daryl was relieved that it was just an infection, Kal had scared the shit out of him when he came rushing in like that. He’d been sure that Maggie had contracted some extremely dangerous disease and was in danger of losing her baby or dying herself.

“Thank god it’s nothing serious,” Paul breathed out a sigh of relief, “Can I get you anything?”

“I can’t believe I did that,” she whispered, “I’ve been told a thousand time how much more susceptible I am to bacteria in food now that I’m pregnant, how could I have not thought to check?”

“Don’t beat yourself up about this,” Paul said reaching out to place his fingers under Maggie’s chin, just like he’d done with Daryl earlier.

“Yeah, nobody could’ve known. That stuff wasn’t even open or past its expiration date. There was no reason to think we shouldn’t use it,” Daryl assured her.

“Thanks guys,” Maggie smiled at them, though she still looked a bit sad, “I’m just so worried about losing this baby. He’s all I have left of Glenn besides the pocket watch my Dad gave him.”

Daryl felt his guilt flare up in his chest again. Even though Maggie had forgiven him and told him Glenn’s death wasn’t his fault, he still hasn’t been able to convince himself of that. He probably never would forgive himself for what he did, he’d just have to learn how to live with it because no matter what anyone said, he will always feel guilt over Glenn’s death.

“Need anything?” Daryl asked, “A book, something to eat? Probably shouldn’t take those meds Siddiq is getting on an empty stomach.”

“Some water would be nice,” she paused, “and maybe a slice of that peach pie Enid made last night? Be sure to make sure nothing from runs were used in it first though.”

“Sure thing,” Paul smiled at her, “Daryl and I’ll go get you some.”

Just as Paul and Daryl were walking through the door, they hear Maggie call after them, “Oh! Could you bring me some of those cabbage rolls and grapes we got from the Kingdom yesterday, too?”

Paul turned back around to look at Maggie, “You are such a pregnant lady.”

“You know it! Now go get my food,” she demanded in a joking manner.

* * *

Laughing, Daryl and Paul left the room to go get Maggie her strange dinner combination. They found Enid still rocking Gracie in the same place as when they arrived. Thought now she was sitting in the rocking chair Daryl had brought back for Maggie a few months ago, rocking Gracie, who’d fallen asleep not long after Paul and Daryl had arrived, back and forth at an even pace. They assured her that Maggie and the baby were going to be just fine, but her face fell, guilt clouding her eyes, when they told her what had most likely caused it. Paul placed his hand on her shoulder and explained to her that she couldn’t have known and that it wasn’t her fault.

“Besides, nobody else has gotten sick, she could’ve accidentally picked it up somewhere else,” Daryl said, trying to ease the guilt she was feeling over this.

“But the cake is the most likely place, right?” Enid said looking at her shoes.

“Yeah,” Paul said, “Maggie requested a slice of that pie you made yesterday. Is there anything in it we brought back from runs?”

“No, I made it from scratch using fresh ingredients from here and the Kingdom. I used the last of the ingredients from the runs to make the cake,” Enid said looking up at Paul and adjusting her grip on Gracie.

“Great, now, this part is going to sound strange, where do you keep the homemade cabbage rolls and grapes?” Paul asked.

“Cabbage rolls, peach pie, and grapes?” Enid asked, giggling at the strange request, “Damn, even for her that’s a strange combination.”

Laughing a bit, though Daryl could still see the guilt in her eyes, Enid told them were everything was and they walked off towards the kitchen. Daryl went to get the dishes while Paul got everything Maggie requested out of the fridge and put them on the counter. Daryl reached over and started breaking off the stems holding the best looking grapes while Paul went to cut a slice of the pie.

“I’m so glad she’s going to be okay,” Paul said, relief evident on his face, “I’m sure you’re even more relieved than I am considering she part of your family.

“Our.”

Paul stopped what he was doing and looked at Daryl in confusion, “ _Our_? What do you mean _our_?”

“It’s not just my family anymore, Paul, it’s our family,” Daryl explained turning his head to look at the scout, “You are just as much a part of this family as I am. If I didn’t know any better, judging by Maggie and your relationship, I’d say you’ve known each other your whole lives. I’d probably even assume you were her brother considering how alike you two look.”

Paul froze completely, the pie still in the pan, as he stared at Daryl. A thousand thoughts raced through his mind as he processed what Daryl had just said. He’d just called Paul family and he was elated and honored to be welcomed into the tight knit group. Daryl cared about most everyone, except for a few of the saviors, but he only loved his family members. It is a rare and special privilege to be considered family by the grumpy hunter. But, if they were family, what did that mean Daryl felt towards him? He’d literally just stated that Maggie could be his sister, so he really hoped that didn’t mean Daryl saw him as a brother too because Paul _definitely_ did not see Daryl that way.

“Wow Daryl,” Paul said, finally snapping out of his stupor, “I... I don’t know what to say... I’ve never had someone call me family before.”

“It’s alright, you don’t have to say nothing. I just wanted you to know that you’ve got us now, you don’t have be alone anymore. In my mind, you’re just as much Maggie’s brother as Rick is mine.”

Speechless, Paul opted for expressing his happiness at being accepted into the exclusive Georgia family by moving away from the pie and wrapping his arms around Daryl’s shoulders in a tight hug. He felt Daryl wrap his arms around his back and pull them closer together. Daryl pulled back from the hug a bit only to lean in and place a kiss on Paul’s cheek.

“Welcome to the family, Paul,” he whispered against Paul’s ear before allowing Paul to bury his face in his shoulder.

* * *

Paul thought he was going to cry, scratch that, he was crying. He could feel the tears running down his cheeks and soaking into Daryl’s shirt, who didn’t seem to mind at all as they stood there still locked in a tight embrace. Ever since he was a child he’d dreamed of being accepted into a family of his own. Growing in the system, he’d watched child after child get adopted into homes with loving families while every house he’d been sent to returned him with a few months. He’d spent about seven years being passed around various homes in a lot of different places from Florida to Minnesota. He was basically shipped like luggage to any home willing to take him.

Some of the homes had nice families that treated him wonderfully until they found out they were going to have a child of their own and sent him back. Other times, the family was nice enough that he decided it was safe to tell them he was gay and then they returned him the next week. There were bad homes, of course. He’d heard so many horror stories from other orphans he’d met in the system. It’s why he started taking self defense classes when he was in the nicer homes because the families only in it for the money wouldn’t pay for them.

He’d only been in one home that had been physically abusive, and for that, he was grateful. He was 16 at the time and it was a middle aged couple with no children. They’d looked nice enough when he met them, but boy was he wrong. The day he arrived, they shut him up in the attic and left him there. It was summertime so no need for him to be let out to attend school and they even brought him his meals in his room. If he ever talked back, the man would punch and kick him until he couldn’t get up afterwards because the pain was so intense. That house didn’t last very long because Paul took matters into his own hands and used his self defense skills to knock the man out after the third time the man tried beat him.

The first time, Paul had been too shocked to do anything and the next time he’d still been healing from the first round and was barely able to walk without collapsing in pain. He kept his mouth shut and waited until his injuries had healed well enough for him to fight back. That night, already with his meager belonging in a bag on his back, when the man had come to give him his dinner, he’d thrown the food into the man’s face and knocked him out with a quick roundhouse to the temple. He grabbed the man’s keys off his belt and sprinted for the door. He knocked the woman out too before she could call the cops and rushed out the door, climbing into the driver seat of the man’s truck.

The whole thing stunk of alcohol and cigarettes making Paul want to throw up. He’d driven out of the state by the time the gas ran out and been forced to get out and walk since he had no money. Two weeks later, he was caught stealing food from a local grocery store and was shipped off to an all boys group home in Virginia. He had been overjoyed when he turned 18 and was allowed to leave. That place had been hell for him, especially after the other boys figured out he was gay. They excluded him from everything, called him derogatory names, and they’d even tried to beat him up a few times. They soon realized that physically attacking wasn’t going to work because he could easily take out a group of them, so they stuck to insults and pretending he didn’t exist.

He’d told Daryl all of this while on their run last month when they’d accidentally stumbled upon an old foster care building. He’d often stayed at facilities like that one waiting for his new foster parents to pick him up or was given a plane ticket and sent on his way. It had felt good to get it all off his chest, especially knowing that the other man could relate to it on some level.

* * *

Daryl stood there, holding Paul’s smaller frame against his body, waiting for him to process what he’d said. He understood what being called family meant to Paul, so he was willing to stay there, locked in that embrace for as long as Paul needed. It didn’t take long for Paul to start silently crying against his shoulder, he could feel his shirt getting wet, but he didn’t mind. He’d meant every word, Paul was family now, but he wasn’t a brother, at least not to Daryl. God he hoped Paul felt the same way, if only he could get up the courage to do something about it.

After a while, Daryl felt Paul pull away slightly and upon seeing Paul’s face, eyes red from crying and cheeks stained with tear tracks, Daryl reached one hand up to wipe the tears away. He was staring up at Daryl like he’d just given him the greatest gift in the entire world and, from Paul’s perspective, he probably had. He remembered Paul telling him how desperately he wanted to be part of a family. He was glad to be the one to fulfill that dream, a wish Paul had told him he didn’t think would ever come true, especially after the turn.

When Daryl had reached up to dry his tears, Paul knew, in that moment, he loved the man. He had pretty much given up on becoming part of a family after the turn. In part because of the extreme decrease in the population, but also because of his difficulties getting close to people. Paul had been dating Alex for over a year before the turn and he still hadn’t said that he loved him. Yet, here he was having only known Daryl and his family for less than 10 months and he’d already fallen head over heels in loved with Daryl and had grown close enough to him and Maggie for them to consider him family.

Without thinking, Paul stood up on his toes, closed his eyes, and leaned in to kiss Daryl, not on his cheek like Daryl had, but on his lips. At first, Daryl didn’t respond and Paul felt a flash of worry that he’d just ruined everything before he felt Daryl begin to kiss him back. The kiss didn’t last very long and when they separated Paul could see the slight blush in Daryl cheeks. Not wanting to push the man too fast, he stepped back, sighing in relief that he hadn’t messed anything up between him and the hunter with what he’d just done.

Paul, smiling like the love struck maniac he was, went back to preparing Maggie’s meal and watched out of the corner of his eye as Daryl did the same. They still had a lot to talk about, but for right now, this was enough. Besides, Paul did not want to deal with a hungry, pregnant Maggie who didn’t get the food she requested. They’d hkave plenty of time later to talk about things back at their trailer. He picked up the finished plate and kissed Daryl on the cheek before turning away and leading the way back to Maggie’s room.

He’d finally found his family and he couldn’t be happier.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all of the positive feedback everyone! When I read it, it makes my day and makes me want to write more. I’m a creative wrong and film major in college, so this is really encouraging.
> 
> Hope everyone enjoys this chapter, I’ve already started working on the next one.


	4. Looking Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Paul talks to Maggie about Daryl and Alex while Daryl reflects on his past.

Once they got the food to Maggie, she practically inhaled it. Apparently they’d stayed in that hug for a lot longer than either of them thought.

“Seriously, how long does it take for two people to get a slice of pie, a few cabbage rolls, grapes, and a glass of water?” she’d asked when they walked through the door.

She paused upon seeing Paul’s red rimmed eyes and wide smile. He was practically radiating joy, yet looked to have been crying and she was curious as to what had caused it. Getting food for a pregnant woman wasn’t that exciting. Her confusion grew more when she noticed the wet spot on Daryl’s shoulder and the slight pink tint of his cheeks. Had Paul been crying on Daryl’s shoulder? Over what?

“Sorry, got caught up,” Daryl answered, “Enid felt awful over the cake thing, Paul and I did our best to make sure she understood it wasn’t her fault.”

“Okay, thank you,” but Maggie wasn’t convinced that was all it was.

That’s when they heard a knock at the door before Eduardo leaned in, “Hey everyone, Enid told me how you were doing. Glad it’s nothing serious, don’t know what we’d do without you Maggie.”

“Thanks, Eduardo.”

“Hey Daryl, I could use your help moving some of the supplies for wall expansion. Daniel hurt his shoulder and now he can’t work.”

“How the hell he do that?” Daryl asked, it wasn’t that hard to move building supplies.

“He was trying to show off for his new girlfriend by lifting something heavy. I told him not to, but, as usual, he ignored me and tried it anyway. It put too much stress on his arm and he dropped the whole thing.”

“What he drop exactly?”

“Luckily nothing fragile, a giant box of those thick nails we use to nail the wood together. Alone, they aren’t that heavy, but all of them together like that, takes two people to move it safely.”

“Damn idiot, he’s lucky it wasn’t nothing easily broken,” Daryl grouched, “I’ll be down in a bit, just gotta change into a pair a jeans.”

He and Paul had run out of their trailer so fast, they were both still wearing the same clothes they went to bed in. Luckily, Paul had decided to put on a shirt when he woke up this morning since he’d gone to bed last night without one.

“Thanks man, later Maggie, Jesus,” he said before turning around and leaving, closing the door behind him.

“Well, I’d better go help out before some other idiot hurts himself,” Daryl sighed, wishing he could stay and keep chatting with the two, “Later Paul, Maggie.”

After Daryl had left, Paul reached over to gather Maggie’s empty plates, “I should probably go too. Plenty of work to be done,” Paul said, making to stand.

“Oh no you don’t,” Maggie spoke firmly, pointing her finger accusingly at Paul. “There is something up between you too and I demand to know what it is.”

“It’s really not my place to say...”

“Jesus, I love you like a brother, but if you don’t tell me what’s going on between you and Daryl right now I will climb out of this bed and kick your ass.”

Despite being a very good martial artist, Maggie’s threat scared him more than Negan ever had. The only person that scared him more than Maggie was Carol. Before leaving with Ezekiel for the Kingdom, she’s sought him out and given him the most terrifying shovel talks he’d ever gotten form anyone in his life. Paul had learned a long time ago that the women in the Georgia family were just as strong, if not stronger, than all of the men combined. They are all fiercely protective of their family and will do anything to ensure their well being, so God help the idiot that thought they could get in between that bond.

Besides, Daryl had called him Maggie’s brother and siblings share stuff like this all the time, right? I mean, he’d never actually had one, but he assumed they were just really good friends that just happen to have the same parents. Then it hit him, Maggie has just said that she loved him like a _brother_.

 _Well, that did it_ , he thought as his eyes started watering all over again.

“Paul what’s wrong, if it really pains you that much we don’t have to talk about it right now,” Maggie said sitting up and grabbing ahold of Paul’s limp hands.

“Not sad, happy” he whispered, “these are happy tears.”

“Oh... sorry, I’m still a bit lost.”

“You called me brother, Maggie. You said you love me like a _brother_. Do... do you really mean that?”

“With all my heart,” she said, finally realizing what was going on.

Paul collapsed forward into her arms whispering a mantra of _thank you_ over and over again. Maggie rubbed his back as he cried, still not entirely sure why calling him brother had resulted in this reaction.

Still pressing against her, careful to avoid her baby bump, Paul whispered, “Downstairs Daryl told me I was part of this family now, that I was just as much your brother as Rick is his in his eyes. It’s all I’ve wanted, since I was a little boy being tossed from house to house in the system, to be part of a family and now I have it.”

Maggie hugged him closer, “Well, I’m glad we were the ones to finally give you that. If anyone deserves to have a loving family, it’s you. I couldn’t have done everything I’ve accomplished at Hilltop without you. I love you, Paul.”

Between his gasps for air Paul returned her sentiment, “I love you, too,” he whispered.

They stayed like that, just like he had with Daryl downstairs, until Paul was able to compose himself enough to sit up, wiping away the tears.

He looked up her when he heard her start giggling.

“What?”

“You’ve got some pie filling residue from my plate on your shirt.”

He looked down at his chest and sure enough, right in the middle was an area about the size of his fist that was covered in the sticky peach filling. Confused at how that happened he looked down at where he’d hugged Maggie. Her empty plate was still on her lap, he must’ve laid down on it without thinking. He could feel his face heating up from the mistake, he’d been so caught up in his joy over finding a family that he had not noticed the plate before moving to hug Maggie. Maggie handed him her napkin for him to wipe some of the sticky filling off. Though it would have to be washed in order to get all of it out.

“I already dropped a pan this morning, Daryl is going to tease me about this for weeks when he finds out. He loves reminding me how clumsy I can be when I wake up as opposed to how I am the rest of the day.”

“It is a bit of a mystery. Better now?” she asked, taking the napkin back and placing the empty dishes on the nightstand next to her bed.

“Definitely, this is the best day of my life.”

“I’m glad I got to be apart of it, but I still feel like you aren’t telling me everything.”

Paul huffed out a laugh at that, it seems that her Mom radar was kicking in a bit early. Usually he could hide everything or at least brush off people’s questions, but with Maggie he never could.

“After he told me that he considered me family and I finished crying into his shoulder... I kissed him.”

“Oh!” she was obviously not expecting that answer.

It prompted Paul to wonder is Daryl had ever told her, or anyone for that matter that he was gay. He hopes he hadn’t just accidentally lured him.

“I mean, I alway guessed since he turned down all of Carol’s advances at the prison and eventually stopped seeing it wasn’t going to go anywhere, but he never told me for sure. Rick’s always thought he was ace, but I guess Beth hit the nail on the head when she said she thought he was gay, but stuck in the closet because of his upbringing.”

“Well, I guess he’s out now. I didn’t mean to out him like that,” Paul said, he felt kind of bad for outing Daryl to Maggie before he told her, he’d apologize later.

Being forcefully outed was not fun, he knew that much from his time at the group home. He also knew that coming out could be extremely difficult after being sent back to the foster agency after coming out to his foster parents. After the first few experiences like that, he stopped telling people and started hiding it, but it never stopped them from sending him back in the end.

“I’m sure he won’t be all that mad about it. He’s not exactly the best at hiding it, especially once he started feeling more comfortable with us and I think he knows that. More than once I caught him looking at some of the guys in the prison. I even saw him looking at Rick a few times back at the beginning before they started considering each other brothers. He never made a move on any of them that I know of, he probably would’ve made a move on Rick if he’d thought it would lead anywhere.”

“Huh, I assumed he’d be really careful about that stuff since I know his brother would’ve beat his ass if he found out. I’ve heard enough to know how bigoted Daryl’s family was.”

“I think his brother knew, he just loved him more than he hated the fact he was gay. I think the only reason Merle came to the prison, despite knowing Daryl was the only one there that would accept him, is because he loved him more than his own pride; he just didn’t know how to express it correctly.”

“Makes sense, it took Daryl almost three weeks for him to be comfortable enough around me to ask me to sleep in his bed with him.”

“Why would he do that?”

“Oh yeah, apparently my presence helps keep the nightmares away. Last night was the first time I was with him when he went to bed in about a month and it was the first time he’s had a nightmare since we started rooming together. It’s nice, I like feeling needed by people because they know I can help. He’s help me too, in come ways.”

“I’m glad he has you, Paul. He loves Rick, but he’d never ask him to sleep in the same bed as him. I feel better knowing he has someone to help him through whatever it is he’s going through. I tried, but he still feels so much guilt over Glenn that he can barely look me in the eye sometimes.”

“I think he still has nightmares about that night. The first time I had to wake him up out of a nightmare he was begging Negan to kill him and spare Glenn in his sleep. I don’t think I ever told him he said that stuff out loud.”

Maggie’s face fell when he said that, he could see the hurt and sympathy she felt for him. She loved Daryl so much and she couldn’t bare to watching him beat himself up over something he had no control over. Negan killed her husband, not Daryl. She never blamed him for her husband’s death, she just wished she could get him to forgive himself, at least.

“It was never his fault, if I hadn’t been so weak, I’d have torn Negan’s throat out with my fingers right then and there. If I didn’t have our baby to watch out for, nobody could’ve stopped me from joining Sasha and Rosita on their mission to take out Negan back at the beginning of the war.”

“I know what you mean, I lost my boyfriend, Alex, from before in a similar way.”

“What happened?” she asked, concern flooding her expression. “ I mean you don’t have to tell me...”

“It’s fine, the first time telling Daryl was the hardest. I think it’ll be easier this time,” he responded.

He then proceeded to tell Maggie the story he’d told Daryl over a month ago sitting on that couch. How he and Alex had been on their way to D.C. when they’d been ambushed on the road. How the woman had missed the knife in his sock and Alex had tried to get it and was discovered. How the leader had easily murdered one of his own before just as quickly shooting Alex in the head, right in front of him. His escape after watching them burn Alex’s body on a pile of walkers and slitting the leader’s throat and a few of the guards and leaving them to turn.

“He hardest part was not getting to say goodbye. He was just gone, I could’ve blinked and missed it. It was over so fast, I barely had time to register what had happened before they were taking me back to their camp.”

“I agree, I never got to tell Glenn goodbye, I still hear his last words in my sleep sometimes and I’ll wake up crying. God, I miss him so much,” she whispered wiping at the fresh tear that had managed to escape. “At least you got to take revenge against the man that killed him, because of Rick, Negan is still alive. I still feel like I’m at war whenever I think about it.”

“It’s not over until he’s dead,” he said pulling Maggie into a hug.

“Not until he’s dead,” Maggie echoed.

* * *

Paul and Maggie spent the next few hours just hanging out in her room. He’d only left when he noticed her beginning to get sleepy. He left her to get some sleep, she’d had a stressful day with the sickness scare. He figured he’d get changed out of his now sticky - thanks to his inability to move Maggie’s empty plate before engulfing her in a hug - sleep clothes. Hell, he didn’t even have shoes on, he was in his bare feet. At least Daryl was wearing socks when they’d rushed out of the trailer that morning.

He could see Daryl from across the courtyard helping Eduardo, Kal, and a few others gather and organize the supplies for the wall expansion. Once the new wall was built, a group would have to go out to scavenge for usable greenhouse building supplies and hopefully some more seeds. He missed having pumpkin pie and bananas, but so far, nobody’s been able to find any usable seeds or plants of either one. He knew the banana thing was a long shot though, considering they are not normally grown in Virginia.

Daryl had changed out of his pajamas into a tank top, his favorite pair of ripped work jeans, and of course his prized leather vest. Paul could see that he was all sweaty from working in the sun and watched a bit as his arms flexed under the weight of the supplies he was carrying. Paul swallowed as the sight when straight to his groin. Paul groaned, slightly frustrated at his body’s reaction. They’d literally just kissed for the first time this morning and he did not think Daryl would be ready for that just yet and, to be honest, neither was he.

He wanted to take this slow, make sure it was built to last instead of just rushing into it at breakneck speed like he had with Alex. If the dead hadn’t started walking when they did, Paul would’ve left Alex, he’d been planning on telling that weekend, a few days before it was time to renew their lease on the apartment. He liked the man well enough, but he didn’t love him. They had a good enough time with each other and the sex was great, but they were constantly bickering over different things. It was usually Alex complaining about something Paul did and then Paul defending his actions.

It was always over stupid stuff like Paul’s hair being too long and not always cleaning it out of the drain right after he showered or leaving the toothpaste on the bathroom sink instead of putting it back in the drawer. Little things that they both should have been able to deal with and adapt to, but Paul hadn’t cared enough to put any real effort into it and Alex become annoyed way too easy. It was enough for him to stay for a while, but not for life.

He and Daryl didn’t always get along, they had their differences. For example, Paul liked to sleep with his hair down, but Daryl was constantly waking up with it in his mouth once they started sleeping in the same bed. They had come to the compromise that Paul would put his hair in a ponytail at night, which helped keep his hair away from Daryl’s mouth. Granted, he didn’t always remember to do that, but Daryl didn’t mind. It was the everyday thing that was getting to him, but occasionally was no big deal.

They were both messy in the bathroom, often leaving stuff on the counter and not always remembering to pick up their hair from the drain. They both had long hair and forgot sometimes, so they really couldn’t point fingers. Alex had hair closer to Abraham’s length except he wasn’t a ginger, so if there was hair in the shower, there was no question as to whom it belonged. Despite all of their differences and arguing, it still hurt Paul to watch him die so suddenly, he hadn’t been able to let himself be with anyone else until now. Just as he was pulling Daryl back from the edge Negan forced him to, Daryl was teaching Paul how to love and care for someone after so long of feeling like he would never be able to experience that kind of devotion to another person, let alone be part of a family.

* * *

When Daryl looked up and saw Paul watching, he paused to smile and wave at him. He watched him wave back before disappearing inside the trailer. He wondered if Paul had told Maggie what had happened in the kitchen. He wasn't angry at the idea of Paul telling Maggie about the kiss, he was aware she thought he was gay. Beth had told him about her and Rick’s guesses when it came to his sexuality when she was drunk.

He’d been pleased to find out she was a happy drunk instead of a messy drunk like his brother had been. Sometimes it was all Daryl could do to keep Merle from destroying half of the motel room they were staying in at the time. Sometimes they rented an apartment, but those didn’t normally last long once Merle started bringing his buddies around and trashing the joint. The longest it took for them to be evicted was 6 months, and that’s because Merle was in jail for the first 3 months. Daryl had found he liked living on his own because it allowed him to be himself.

When Merle was locked up, he usually went out and got a normal job either at a bike shop or at a bar, usually as a bouncer, though he had been a bartender a few times for some of the more shady bars. Everyone kind of assumed he’d been a mechanic before when they saw his skills when it came to fixing the various cars they had, but his favorite job, when he could get it, was always bartending. Sure, the customers could be assholes and get loud and rowdy at times, but it was the people that came to the bar to just forget about their life for a bit are who made Daryl like it so much.

A lot of times those kinds of customers were desperate just for somebody to talk to that wouldn’t judge them. Daryl often found himself making easy conversation with them about whatever game was on at the moment or some other easy topic like that as he poured drinks and cleaned empty glasses. There had only been a few times he’d called the cops on a customer. The one he recalls the most was a younger couple that came into the bar. The woman was dressing in a tight, red dress that just barely covered her and she was sporting one hell of a black eye. The man was in regular clothes, just a casual t-shirt and jeans. He could see that the man’s left hand had light bruises on his knuckles, which meant that he was probably the one that gave her the black eye.

As he was helping other customers he strained his ear to listen to their conversation. From her tone, the woman was obviously scared of the man and didn’t want to be there. It took him a moment to realize what was happening, but he’d hung around Merle’s friends enough to know a hooker when he saw one, and this looked like a trick gone wrong. She was terrified, but Daryl didn’t want to risk an all out brawl with the guy, that would definitely get him fired. He figured, by the looks of him, he could take the guy out easily, but still, he decided to wait to see if the guy would leave before approaching the woman. The last thing he wanted to do was freak her out even more.

It was almost half an hour before the asshole got up to use the bathroom, so Daryl told his coworker to handle the bar for a minute while he went to deal with the man. He grabbed the master keys out of the bowl behind the bar and made his way to the bathroom. He peaked in and made sure that the guy was the only one in there before locking him in using the deadbolt. The only way to unlock it was with the key, so the dude was trapped in there until Daryl let him out. That done, he grabbed the phone and left a note on his boss’ phone about what was happening, hoping that would save him from getting fired and went back out to talk to the woman.

She was still there, her drink untouched, shaking slightly and constantly looking toward the hallway to the bathroom. He stepped behind the bar and calmly made his way over to her, “He won’t be coming back,” he said stopping about a foot in front of her in an attempt not to spook her.

“What? Why not?”

“Locked him in the bathroom and I won’t be letting him out until I’m sure you’re safe. He do that to your eye?”

“Yeah... but, it was just an accident,” she admitted nervously before quickly trying to cover her slip up.

“Why don’t I believe you? From what I can tell you’re pretty scared of him,” he said leaning on the bar, raising his eyebrow.

She didn’t respond to that, she just looked down at the bar stirring her drink slowly, but never taking a sip.

“Do you not like that? I can get you something else if you want, free of charge.”

“It’s not that I don’t like it... it’s my favorite drink actually, I’m just afraid to drink it because...”

“It might be drugged, right?”

“Yeah... I don’t normally go to bars for that reason.”

“Let me get you a new drink, just to be safe,” he said as he went to take her drink.

She just about jumped on him, “No!”

Daryl flinched back hard, before she started apologizing, “It’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s just... that I don’t trust anyone to make drinks for me anymore. One of the other girls was a victim of that and since then, I won’t drink anything men give me.”

“It’s alright, how about this, you tell me how much that asshole owes you - no, I’m not going to call the cops on you being a hooker - and I’ll give you the money and you can leave. How about that?”

“What’s the catch, you want a blowjob? I’m the best in town. Or maybe...”

“Hey, it’s alright. I don’t want nothing from you. I’m gay, so you’ve got the wrong equipment anyway,” Daryl cut her off.

He could tell she was getting increasingly nervous about his advances and while Daryl was normally very closed about his sexuality, he figured telling the girl he had no interest in anything she was selling might help calm her down.

“Oh, sorry I didn’t mean to assume... is there anything else you want?”

Daryl pulled some money out of his back pocket, it was what was left of Merle’s drug money that he kept on him for emergencies not because he needed it, he made plenty enough to support himself working at the bar.

“Look, this is a dead end town and a young girl like you shouldn’t be stuck out here, forced to take to prostitution to make money. I can tell you haven’t been doing this for that long, so it’s not too late for you to get out. You got any family you can go to?”

“I was trying to save up money to buy a ticket and get to my Aunt in Canada, but shit happens and I haven’t been able to save up enough money to buy a passport. My parents prefer to use our money to buy crack and alcohol.”

He winced at that revelation, it was mostly likely his brother’s gang that they bought the drugs from and he had what’s left of his brother’s money in his back pocket right now since Merle was currently in jail.

Daryl placed the money on the bar and pushed it towards her, “I am trusting you to use this money to get home and not to buy alcohol or drugs. Take it, get out of town, buy a passport and get the hell out of here.”

Daryl started when she practically leaped over the bar to hug him whispering thank you over and over again before releasing him. He bent over and reached under the bar to pull out a shirt and pair of sweats with the bar’s logo sewn into the side, it was one of the nicer bars he’d worked at, “Go change, that shit doesn’t look comfortable enough travel in.”

She took the clothes and hugged him one more time before making her way back to the bathroom to change. His co worker took the opportunity to come up to him and ask him why there was some guy locked in the bathroom yelling to get out, but the keys were missing. Daryl quickly filled him in on what was happening and agreed to not let the man out. The guy had a sister and a wife he loved very much, so he was happy to help this girl get home, even adding some of his own money to the pile still sitting on the bar.

When she came out, he watched as she shoved the revealing outfit into the trash can before making her way over to Daryl. She was still wearing the heels, but he didn’t have anything to help with that. She took the money off the counter and told him thank you again before disappearing out the door. They left the man in the bathroom until it was time to lock up. The guy had been furious and tried to take a swing at Daryl. He easily caught the man’s fist with his left hand before slamming his right fist into the guy’s face.

The man lifted his head up in shock and Daryl grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him close, getting in his face, “If I ever see you here again, I will beat your ass into the ground. You hear me?”

Daryl shoved the guy away roughly and watched him as he nodded before sprinting out the door at full speed. Daryl often wondered what happened to that girl and he’d always done his best to help people that looked to be in tough spots when they came into the bar, but he couldn’t save everyone. More often than not, when a situation like that arose, they woman denied everything and left the man anyway. It was moments like those that made Daryl’s heart ache with sympathy.

God, people could be so awful sometimes. Daryl was glad that it seemed like a lot of those assholes hadn’t survived the turn and the few that did were now dead thanks to Daryl and his family and now Paul. His future was beginning to look up.

 


	5. The Sanctuary

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Daryl and Paul finally have that talk mentioned in chapter 2!
> 
> Finals are just around the corner, so this took longer than I originally planned.

After Daryl had finished helping move the supplies, he excused himself to return to his trailer for dinner. Paul was still in the trailer to the best of Daryl’s knowledge, he hadn’t seen him leave yet, but the guy could be so quick that he very well have slipped out when Daryl wasn’t looking. He opened the door and stepped inside, making sure to knock any dirt off of his boots before entering fully, they did their best to keep the trailer clean, but they weren’t always successful. Paul appreciated Daryl not tracking mud through the trailer, just like Daryl appreciated Paul being willing to pull his hair back at night. Simple, little things that made living together go so much smoother.

“Paul, you here?” Daryl called out, shrugging out of his vest.

His hair stuck to his forehead and sweat was still running down his face. He really needed a shower, he hoped Paul wasn’t using it because he wanted to grab one before going to the community dinner they had every night. Every night, everyone gathered outside and enjoyed a meal together. Paul explained that back before the saviors came, that’s what they would do, but when Negan came, he took all of the picnic tables they’d scavenged with him. After the war, the tables were given back to Hilltop by Eugene, who’d been in charge of the redistribution of the sanctuary’s things back to their rightful owners.

“I’m here, just got out of the shower. Figured you’d want to take one before dinner,” Paul called back to him, “I’ll be out of the bathroom in just a minute.”

“Okay,” Daryl replied, heading for the bedroom.

Paul climbed out of the shower and threw on his normal cargo pants and white long sleeve shirt before exiting the bathroom. Walking into the main room, he saw Daryl coming out of the bedroom carrying a fresh change of clothes. He could see the sweat still running down his arms a bit, giving them kind of shine in the light. Paul swallowed, damn this man was perfect both on the inside and the outside. As Daryl went to walk past him, Paul reached out and grabbed his arm, stopping him.

Daryl gave him a confused look before Paul stood up onto his toes and kissed him. Paul pulled away rather quickly, but Daryl used his free and to grab his neck and pull him back in for a proper kiss. They turned their bodies so that they were facing each other and Paul moved to place his hands, one on Daryl’s cheek and the other at the base of his neck, playing with the hair there. They stayed locked in the kiss for a lot longer than before. At the beginning, it was a bit sloppy as they worked to figure out the other’s rhythm before their lips finally started moving in sync.

It wasn’t the best kiss Paul’s ever had, Daryl’s lack of practice obvious, but it didn’t make Paul enjoy this kiss any less. It actually made him look forward to when they will be more comfortable with doing this and would be able to take their time to learn what made the other tick. How to fit themselves together seamlessly as if they were one person, not two. He made sure not to push too fast though and kept his tongue out of Daryl’s mouth, unsure if that would be too fast for him.

They broke the kiss and just stood there for a moment, before Paul kissed him quickly on the lips one last time and stepped away from Daryl.

“I gotta go help set up for dinner, Maggie asked me to do it tonight since Lynda is due to have her baby any day now. She doesn’t want her doing anything that forces her to be on her feet for more than a few minutes,” Paul said, his voice soft, afraid to ruin the nice moment they’d just had.

“Okay, see you there,” Daryl replied, “Make sure Maggie isn’t overworking herself after the scare this morning.”

“Of course I’m gonna look out for her, it’s what siblings do right?”

Daryl laughed a bit at that, “Yeah, it is. At least, Rick and and I do, not so much Merle. He was usually the one encouraging me to try drugs.”

“The hard drugs are bad, but weed was fun as long as I did it with friends.”

“Of course you smoked weed, ya damn hippie,” Daryl teased as he walked into the bathroom.

Paul, laughing, called back, “That me new nickname?”

“Nah, I prefer prick,” he responded through the door.

Shaking his head, Paul left the trailer to go find Maggie and help set up for dinner. Sure enough, he found out of bed, moving around the room placing food on the buffet.

“You should be resting,” Paul said coming up behind her, “let me do that.”

“That’s sweet, but I’m fine. You can start setting out the plates and silverware though,” she replied.

“If you’re sure...”

“I am, now go!”

Paul walked over to do as she asked, laughing softly to himself. It didn’t take long for people to start pouring in. Once he was done, he found himself a seat towards the back of the room and made sure to save a spot for Daryl next to him. Not only were they living together, they almost always sat with each other for dinner, both preferring each other’s company to many others. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t like other people, he just liked Daryl better.

He didn’t have to act when Daryl was around, pretending to be some perfect, benevolent person because of his nickname. People can call him Jesus all they want, but that doesn’t make him anything like Jesus in reality. Often after dealing with Gregory, before Maggie took over, he had to go outside and practice martial arts to calm down. It was a practice that some days was the only thing that kept him from using his roundhouse to take Gregory’s head off instead of one of the dead.

“Hey Daryl!” Paul heard someone say from a few tables over. He looked up to see Daryl come strolling in, hair still wet. Paul heard a few other call out a greeting. It was nice to see people embracing Daryl so completely, especially since when Paul first brought him back from the Sanctuary he kept himself isolated from everyone offering only a few grunts as conversation. Paul beamed when Daryl answered in kind. Paul raised his hand up in the air to wave Daryl over once he’d gotten his food.

“It’s getting almost as bad as the prison,” he said sitting down.

“What is?”

“Everybody greeting me when I arrive.”

“You’re a big part of this community now, you’re gonna have to learn to live with the love.”

Daryl snorted at that, “Carol said almost the same exact thing to me back at the prison.”

“Really?”

“Yep.”

“Huh, guess it must be a recurring theme. A grumpy hunter with a heart of gold, what could be better than that?”

Daryl grunted before leaning forward to shovel a heaping fork of mashed potatoes into his mouth. The man always ate like he didn’t know when he’d get the chance to eat again, always inhaling whatever food was placed in front of him. With the exception of ground beef, that is. The last time they’d had it, and it was very unusual they did, but one of their cows had been shot during the savior’s attack and luckily, John was a butcher before. He took the cow and, with some help from Jesus gathering equipment and supplies, was able to process the dead cow into all different cuts of meat.

The second Daryl laid eyes on the ground beef on the buffet table, he had bolted from the dining hall. Paul had gotten up immediately and followed him signalling to Maggie that he had it. He’d refused to talk about it and instead grabbed his crossbow and when hunting. Daryl didn’t return for two days, leaving both him and Maggie worried sick until he came through the gate dragging a buck with a two rabbits hanging from his belt.

He’d still refused to talk about what made him run off, but Paul hoped that would change with time. Daryl had already agreed to talk about it with him this morning before the whole Maggie situation. After dinner, they helped clean up before returning to their trailer. As soon as they entered, Paul felt the atmosphere turn serious.

Daryl was scared to tell Paul about what happened to him at the sanctuary because he didn’t want Paul’s opinion of him to change. They’d literally just started this thing between them and Daryl was afraid to fuck it up. He sat down on the couch and felt the cushions bow as Paul sat down next to him. Paul didn’t say anything, simply waiting for Daryl to be ready, he must’ve been able to feel the shift in tone just like he had.

“When I got there, the first thing they did was dig the bullet out of my arm and patch up the wound. No pain killers, nothing. They didn’t even disinfect it properly, just wiped the wound with a sanitary wipe like the ones I used to wipe Judith’s butt with when I changed her diaper back at the prison. Then the stripped me and shoved me into a dark cell.”

Daryl’s voice shook, being locked in the dark like that for weeks was the hardest part of the whole experience. He was so used to being outside all the time that the constant darkness with only that awful song playing loudly in the background nearly made him go insane.

“It was a small room, about the size of our bathroom, it had no windows and no vent. It was so hot in there, even without my clothes. They blasted this song, easy street, on repeat at all hours of the day and night, I couldn’t sleep. I don’t even know how long they managed to keep me awake. The only time they opened the door was to give me food and water once a day. You remember that time I went running out of the dining hall? The night they were serving ground beef tacos?”

Paul nodded and leaned forward to clasp his hand in silent support.

“It reminded me of what they served me during my time at the sanctuary. It looked like dog food.”

“Oh Daryl...” Paul whispered.

Paul shifted closer to Daryl and wrapped his arms around his shoulders and pulled Daryl closer. Daryl immediately relaxed into Paul’s embrace and let Paul lean backwards to rest against the back of the couch with Paul supporting a majority of Daryl’s weight, just like Daryl had done for him when he’d talked about losing Alex.

“I don’t know how long they left me in there, I lost count after the first few times Dwight came in and gave me food. When they finally gave me clothes, they felt like they were made out of old sack cloths, itchy and uncomfortable, but I’d rather wear those than be naked should Negan decide to show up. I felt too vulnerable being exposed like that. That day, when Dwight brought me my food, he stuck the picture they’d taken of Glenn after Negan had beaten the shit out of him. He told me it was my fault. That is what broken me.

I threw up and passed out in my own vomit from the guilt I had... have over Glenn’s death. When Dwight came back and found me like that, he took me to Negan who offered to let me join his privileged gang if I called myself Negan. I refused, so he put me to work around the compound doing all of the most dangerous jobs. I was treated like a slave, worked all day without rest and then thrown back into the cell at night with only a dog food sandwich and a glass of water. I wasn’t even allowed shoes to protect my feet.”

Daryl was definitely crying now, it felt good to get it off his chest and share it with someone, but it still hurt to talk about. It reminded him of drawing poison from a wound, painful as hell, but a good pain in a strange kind of way. Paul just rubbed his hands up and down Daryl’s back, running his fingers across the wings on his back.

“It was like that until you saved me, I’d already tried to escape once, but that backfired and I got stuck in the cell without food or water for a few days. You watched me beat that man to death and didn’t abandon me afterwards. You brought me and healed me. I put up with everything Negan did to me because I thought I deserved it. Part of me still thinks I deserved it for what I did in the line up; punching Negan and causing Glenn’s death.”

Paul grabbed the sides of Daryl’s face and forced him to look at him, “Glenn’s death was not on you, Negan said it himself when we captured him that the whole thing was an act. He knew who he was going to kill, he was going to kill Glenn whether you punched him or not. And you didn’t deserve any of that, nobody does, but especially not you.”

  
“I did...”

“No, you didn’t. Daryl, you are one of the kindest, bravest, most loyal people I’ve ever met. Maggie has told me a lot about what’s happened since the turn. He told me how when your group showed up on their farm, how you were the one looking for that little girl the most. She told me you took a bullet and an arrow looking for her. You care about and protect people, Daryl, it’s who you are,”

Daryl buried his face into Paul’s neck and they just stayed there for a while until Daryl spoke up again.

“They didn’t just force me to work, if I messed up or wasn’t working fast enough for them, they would beat me. One time, towards the end of my stay, one of them took off their belt and used it to whip me. It was the worst beating I’d received there, not because of the physical pain, but because it made me remember all the times my father beat me as a child. I know you’ve seen the scars that litter my back, it’s impossible to live in such close quarters and to not see it. They’re from the beatings he used to give me when he was drunk. The longest one, it runs from the top of my tattoos to the middle of my back actually wasn’t made with a belt. He cut me with a knife there the night he found out I was gay.”

Paul’s grip tightened on Daryl at that admission, _how could a father hurt their children in such a brutal way? A belt was bad enough, but a knife? That made it even worse._

“I had one of my only friends, Ty, in high school over to finish a project for school. We were sitting on my bed when he suddenly kissed me. At first I freaked out, but eventually I calmed down enough to kiss him back. My Dad burst into my room to find us laying on my bed basically making out. He went crazy and threw Ty out of the house and then beat me within an inch of my life.”

Daryl paused and sat up a bit to look Paul in the eyes, “I haven’t kissed anyone else since, that is, until you kissed me this morning.”

Tears were now running down both of their faces. Paul cradled Daryl’s head in his hands and pulled him into a soft kiss. Paul had meant to keep it light, but it seemed Daryl had other plans. Daryl pulled himself up a bit and deepen the kiss, lightly nibbling on Paul’s bottom lip causing him to gasp. That gave Daryl the chance to slip his tongue into Paul’s mouth and twirling his tongue around Paul’s. They battled for dominance with Daryl finally submitting to Paul’s superior experience and let him push his tongue into Daryl’s mouth instead.

They kissed for a while, only pulling away when the need for air became too urgent to ignore. Breathing hard, Daryl leaned forward to rest his forehead against Paul’s. Paul raised his hands up to wipe the excess tears away from Daryl’s cheeks before Daryl returned the gesture. They stayed there, alternating between deep, passionate kisses and soft, chaste pressing of lips, for a long time. Eventually, Daryl found the energy to move and pulled Paul up with him. They both changed into more suitable clothes for sleeping and Paul pulled his hair back into a loose ponytail before crawling into bed together.

This time, Paul positioned them so that his chest was against Daryl’s back, his arms draped around the hunter’s torso, keeping him pulled close. Daryl rested on of his hands on Paul’s forearm, the other reaching back to rub lightly against Paul’s face, “Night Paul.”

“Goodnight, Daryl,” he whispered back and placed a quick kiss against the back of Daryl’s hand.

Daryl listened to Paul’s soft breathing, letting it lull him to sleep, his last conscious thought lingering in his cloudy mind, _I love you, Paul._

Daryl was none the wiser that Paul wasn’t actually asleep yet or that he’d actually said that last thought aloud.


	6. Coming Together

Paul rubbed his eyes and got up, moving around slowly to get ready for the day. He could smell breakfast cooking from the bathroom; pancakes. Paul had found a jar of real syrup a while back on a run. Not that shitty stuff they sold in the grocery stores, but straight from a farm, honest-to-god syrup. They didn’t often have pancakes because Paul wanted to savor the syrup since he didn’t know when he’d be able to get more.

 

Paul had lain awake for a long time after Daryl’s whispered admission. He was almost completely sure Daryl didn’t know he heard him say that. Actually, he might not even realize he said it. Paul contemplated telling Daryl what he’d heard, but he didn’t want Daryl to feel uncomfortable.

 

Paul pulled his hair up into a messy bun to protect it from the sticky goodness he was going to enjoy. Last time he and Daryl had pancakes, he’d leaned forward to breathe in the scent and promptly gotten syrup in his hair. It had taken a lot of soap and hot water to get the stuff out of his hair. Daryl had teased him about for weeks after.

 

“Morning,” Paul said as he entered the kitchen.

 

Daryl was standing at the stove, shirtless, and Paul took a moment to admire him. His heart ached at the sight of the scars crisscrossing his back, but hummed in approval at the toned muscle of his exposed back and arms. God did Paul love those arms. His eyes followed the curve of Daryl’s spine down to where it met with the band of his sweatpants. They hadn’t gone any farther than simple kissing, but Paul was looking forward to more as they got more comfortable in the relationship.

 

“Morning,” Daryl replied flipping one of the pancakes over in the skillet, “Breakfast is almost ready.”

 

“Smells delicious.”

 

“You pull your hair back this time? Wouldn’t want a repeat of last time.”

 

Paul could hear the quiet laughter in his voice, “Ha ha, very funny. Yes, I did.”

 

Daryl placed the pancake on top of a plate already stacked with pancakes. They’d definitely have some leftovers. The table was already set and Paul took his seat as Daryl placed the pancakes in the center of the table. Paul immediately helped himself to some of them before pouring syrup over them. They did their best to ration the syrup, but since both of them loved the stuff, it was going faster than they originally intended.

 

They chatted easily while they finished their breakfast, Paul not wanting to bring up the “I love you” thing, afraid to ruin the mood.

 

“Got any plans today?” Paul asked, attempting to gauge when they could talk about it. The sooner the better.

 

“Not really, promised to help Maggie in the gardens, but ever since she hit her second trimester getting her up before 10 is impossible.”

 

“Yeah, I tried that once. Not even my ninja skills were able to combat her tactics for staying in bed.”

 

Daryl snorted in amusement, “You doing anything.”

 

“Nothing set in stone yet,” Paul replied and decided to go for it, “but there is something I’d like to talk to you about.”

 

“What is it?”

 

“Just something you said last night when you fell asleep.”

 

“Last thing I remember saying out loud was goodnight. I say something else?”

 

“Yeah...”

 

Daryl looked at him funny, “what’s with the tone? I say something wrong?”

 

“No, no. It’s not that,” Paul assured him, “it just that you said...”

 

Paul took a breath, “you said you loved me.”

 

Daryl’s fork paused on the way to his mouth. His whole body tensed at the revelation.

 

“Do you mean it?”

 

“I...,” Daryl paused. He didn’t remember saying that aloud.

 

He knew he’d thought it right before drifting off, but he never intended to say it aloud. He feared pushing this too fast and ruining it. He bit his lip, there was no point in hiding it now, if this fucked up their relationship, the damage was already done.

 

“Yes, I meant it.”

 

Paul’s face broke into a grin and launched himself sideways into Daryl forcing him to drop his fork back onto his plate to catch Paul. Paul hugged him tightly, arms wrapping around his neck while Daryl’s arms slid around his waist.

 

“I love you, too.”

 

Daryl pulls Paul closer forcing Paul to completely leave his chair. Daryl shifts his chair back a bit to allow Paul to sit on his lap, an invitation Paul readily accepts throwing one leg on each side of Daryl’s legs, effectively straddling him. Paul leans his head back and kisses Daryl. It starts out slow, but quickly devolves into desperate, deep kisses. Their tongues pushing against the others’ in an elegant dance of passion ignited by their mutual admissions of love.

 

Paul could feel himself growing hard and, because of his position atop Daryl’s lap, he could feel that Daryl was very much in the same boat. Paul threaded his fingers through Daryl hair before giving an experimental roll of his hips. He felt Daryl groan into the kiss at Paul’s movement. Paul smirked and did it again, this time harder.

 

Daryl pulled back from the kiss to groan, “Don’t start something you’re not ready to finish.”

 

“If this is what you want, I am most definitely ready to finish it,” Paul whispered, his voice full of lust and love.

 

Daryl pulled Paul back down into a kiss. It was hot and heavy, there was no mistaking where this was headed. Paul prayed nobody would interrupt them because if anyone came through door right now without a good enough reason and ruined this, god help him, Paul was going to throw them to the walkers.

 

Daryl’s arms shifted lower to wrap around Paul’s lower back. He pulled him closer so that their clothed erections were effectively rubbing against each other. They both groaned at the contact, it had been so long for both of them. They stayed that way, just kissing and grinding against each other for a time before Daryl moved his hands to under Paul’s thighs and stood up.

 

Paul let out an undignified squeak at the movement, arms tightening around Daryl’s neck as he was lifted up by the hunter. Daryl huffed out laughter as he carried Paul into their bedroom and promptly threw Paul onto the bed before closing the door. Paul immediately started moving back towards the headboard as Daryl crawled onto the bed with him like a predator stalking its prey and Paul was happy to be caught.

 

Paul spread his legs so that Daryl could crawl in between them. Daryl’s bulky frame effectively covering Paul completely as Daryl kisses him. Paul rolled his hips against Daryl’s and breaking the kiss.

 

Trying to catch his breath, Daryl asked, “How... how do you want to do this?”

 

“What do you mean?” Paul questioned, breathing heavily.

 

“Are you a top or a bottom?”

 

“Don’t matter to me. I like both. You?”

 

“Same.”

 

“Good,” Paul said, the fact that Daryl asked him what he preferred made him love him even more. Alex never asked, he’d just assumed since Paul bottomed their first time together that bottoming was all Paul wanted. Even when Paul had brought it up, Alex had dismissed it and refused to sleep with Paul on top.

 

Daryl leaned down and kissed him again, “so you’re okay with bottoming today.”

 

“Definitely, but if you don’t hurry it up I’m going to flip us over and mmm...”

 

Daryl cut him off with a heated kiss and a roll of his hips.

 

“Lube? Condoms?” Daryl asked.

 

“Lube is in the top drawer of my dresser, brought it with me when I moved into the room. I don’t have any condoms. All the ones I’ve found are expired anyway. Figured I give them to people actually getting laid.”

 

“I’m clean, you?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Then we’re good,” Daryl said getting up to fetch the lube, “now get that shirt off.”

 

Paul giggled but did as he was told and pulled his sleep shirt over his head and discarding it on the floor. He pulled off his sweatpants too and threw them over the side of the bed with his shirt leaving him in just his boxers.

 

When Daryl finally found and grabbed the lube, he turned back around to see Paul almost completely naked. He choked a bit at the sight. He’d seen Paul in his boxers before, but never in this context. 

 

He paused to take in the sight and Paul smiled, “You going to return the favor?”

 

Daryl snapped out of his stupor and slipped off his own pants along with his boxers. He heard Paul breath in sharply before groaning at the sight of Daryl naked. Thick, long and uncut, the foreskin retracted completely to expose the head due to his arousal. 

 

Daryl made his way back over to the bed and threw the lube onto the bed by Paul’s hips, leaning over Paul’s form.

 

“You going to return the favor?” Daryl whispered taking hold of the waistband of Paul’s boxers.

 

Paul bit his lip and nodded, allowing Daryl to pull his boxers down his legs, totally exposing him to the hunter. Paul was slightly thinner, but slightly longer than Daryl, both of them uncut. They both took a moment to admire the other before Paul surged up and pulled Daryl down into a kiss.

 

Daryl allows himself to be pulled down onto the bed, Paul legs coming up to wrap around his waist, Daryl proving himself up on his forearms placed on either side of Paul’s head. Their exposed cocks rubbing against each other making them both groan loudly into the kiss.

 

He broke the kiss to move his lips down his throat, sucking a mark into the skin where his neck met his shoulder. Paul moaned as Daryl continued his way down Paul’s body kissing every inch of skin he could find on his way to his goal. Paul shuddered and moaned loudly when Daryl finally reached his cock and licked a broad stripe up from the base to the tip.

 

He paid special attention to the sensitive underside of the head of Paul’s cock. Drinking in Paul’s scent and moans like a man dying of thirst in the desert. He glanced up at Paul’s face, it was flushed and they locked eyes before Daryl swallowed Paul’s cock all the way down to the base.

 

Paul let out a noise of surprise before it changed to a long, drawn out moan. Daryl’s complete lack of gag reflex was an advantage when it came to oral sex and Daryl loved using him mouth to bring pleasure to his partners, however few of them he’s had. Daryl bobbed his head up and down Paul’s shaft and felt Paul reach down and tangle his fingers in Daryl’s hair, pulling slightly and Daryl loved it. He took him down to the base one last time and swallowed around him making Paul moan out loudly before pulling off and sitting up.

 

He grabbed the lube, pouring a fair amount of it onto his fingers, rubbing them together to warm it up. He knew he was going to have to take his time since it had been so long since Paul had been with anyone; since they both had actually. He could hear Paul panting above him as he speaks his legs farther to get at Paul’s tiny, pink entrance.

 

“Ugh, hurry up. I need you in me,” Paul groaned above him.

 

Daryl chuckled and ran one of his lines fingers over Paul’s entrance making Paul shuddering with pent up excitement and anticipation. He rubbed the finger around that tiny muscle, waiting for it to relax enough to push a finger in. When it did, Daryl slowly started pushing a finger into Paul until he felt the muscle give allowing Daryl to slip his index finger completely inside of Paul.

 

Paul groaned at the feeling of Daryl’s finger inside of him, it had been so long. Now, sometimes he’d played with himself in the shower, but this was different. Daryl’s fingers felt so much better than his own. Daryl started moving his finger in and out of Paul waiting for Paul’s wall to relax before pushing in his middle finger alongside his index finger, scissoring him open.

 

He listened to noises Paul was making as he shifted his hips to push Daryl’s fingers further into him. Daryl shifted his fingers around to find Paul’s prostate. When he heard Paul moan out louder than before, he knew he’d found it. He confined to tease that little bundle of nerves and watches as Paul writhed on the bed.

 

“Daryl, I swear to god, if you don’t stop going that and get in me, this is going to be over before it even started,” Paul panted, his cock hard, heavy and leaking pre cum onto his torso.

 

Daryl chuckled and pulled his fingers out of Paul only to push three back in, “Patience, love.”

 

Paul groaned at the nickname and the feeling of Daryl’s fingers stretching him out. Damn his fingers were thick, he couldn’t wait to feel his cock inside him. He felt Daryl retract his fingers and watched as he reached of the lube and used it to slick himself up. Daryl leaned back over Paul’s body, one hand coming up to rest  beside Paul’s head and hold him up while the other one lined his cock up with Paul’s hole.

 

“Get in me now,” Paul demanded, trying to shift his hips down to get Daryl’s cock inside him.

 

Daryl chuckled and kissed him while letting his hand guide him slowly into Paul’s tight heat. Daryl went slow to allow Paul’s body to accommodate him, though he’d prepped him with three fingers, his was still wider in width. They both groaned in tandem as Paul’s muscle full relaxed allowing Daryl to slide smoothly into the hilt. He paused for a moment, letting Paul adjust to the hard length inside of him.

 

He waited until he felt Paul start moving his hips to being rolling his hips in and out a bit to test Paul’s give and comfort.

 

“I’m good Daryl, move.”

 

Daryl smiled before capturing Paul’s lips again and pulling almost all the way out before slowly gliding back in. His pace was slow and soft, this was not some meaningless fuck in the back of a bar, he was with the man he loved and he wanted to make sure Paul understood that.

 

They were both moaning loudly, neither one of them making any effort to hide their pleasure. They both felt safe with the other so there was no reason to suppress what they were feeling.

 

“Faster Daryl, please,” Paul moaned out, fingers carding through Daryl’s hair.

 

Daryl smirked and kissed him before leaning up and unwrapping Paul’s legs from around his waist and putting his ankles up onto his shoulders. Daryl pulled out almost all the way before slamming back into Paul making him cry out in pleasure. Daryl immediately did it again and maintained the brutal pace making sure to hit Paul’s prostate with every thrust of his hips.

 

“Daryl, I’m close.”

 

“Me too,” Daryl grunted above him.

 

Daryl bent forward effectively bending Paul almost in half, thanks to Paul flexibility, he wasn’t uncomfortable in the new position. Paul moved his hands from clutching the bedspread like a lifeline to to digging his fingers into Daryl’s shoulders, holding on for dear life and leaving little welts in his skin. Daryl barely registered it as he changed to short, hard, rapid thrusts barely pulling out before slamming home into Paul’s prostate.

 

Daryl reached between them, one hand still firmly on Paul’s hips to support him, and started jerking Paul in time with his thrusts. Paul could tell that Daryl was getting close as his rhythm started to falter slightly.

 

“Daryl...” Paul cried out in warning before he jerked and screamed out as he came all over his and Daryl’s chests.

 

Daryl felt Paul tighten around him and he groaned, keeping his eyes on Paul’s face as he came. It was the beautiful thing Daryl had ever witnessed. He glanced down and watched himself disappearing inside of Paul and it only took a few more thrusts to get him there, filling Paul with his cum.

 

Paul moaned at the feeling of Daryl coming inside him, held hopes Daryl would and if Paul would’ve had the ability to speak, he’d have told Daryl that. He opened his eyes and watched as Daryl fell over the precipice. It was beautiful, everything was perfect.

 

When he started to come down, Daryl carefully pulled out and removed Paul’s legs from his shoulders, laying them on the bed. He got up off the bed and disappeared into the bathroom to grab a washcloth and clean Paul up. He threw the cloth on the ground when he was done and laid down next to Paul pulling him close.

 

Paul shifted to curl up against Daryl’s chest as they basked in the afterglow of sex. Daryl kissed him again before pulling the askew covers over their naked bodies. Paul hummed in approval and contentment.

 

“I love you, Paul.”

 

“I love you too, Daryl.”

 

They both drifted off to sleep because Hilltop could cope without them for one morning. Besides, they deserved this, damn it. Just one morning of peace and love for two people that have found those qualities to be rarities in their lives and even rarer that the two overlapped.

 

Yes, the world owed them this one morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End! :D
> 
> Hope y’all liked it. School is almost out and I have some more ideas saved, so I will hopefully have a new story coming out soon.


End file.
